stem or spear vegetable plant bamboo plant Bambusa Schreb. MANSFELD:18979 Bambusa spp. The bamboos are evergreen perennial flowering plants in the subfamily *Bambusoideae* of the grass family *Poaceae*. Although the shoots (new culms that come out of the ground) of bamboo contain a toxin taxiphyllin (a cyanogenic glycoside) that produces cyanide in the gut, proper processing renders them edible. They are used in numerous Asian dishes and broths, and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms, in both fresh and canned versions. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo] bambusa spp. requires discussion